AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Nathan Lane

Artist:Nathan Lane

Song:The King of Broadway

Album:The Producers: Original Broadway Cast Recording

Nathan Lane has been a staple on Broadway for many years. He won a Tony for playing Max Bialystock in the 2001 musical The Producers and he also appeared in the 2005 film version. In 2010, The New York Times hailed Lane as "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade". I don't think he is viewed the same way in films and TV possibly because there is still a stigma about gay men but he does OK. He was born Joseph Lane Feb. 3, 1956 in Jersey City, NJ. His father was a truck driver and aspiring opera singer who died in 1967 due to alcoholism. Lane appeared on stage while in school. He earned a drama scholarship at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. But when he discovered that it wouldn't cover his expenses, he decided to work for a year so he would have enough money. Because there was already a Joseph Lane registered with Actor's Equity, Lane called himself Nathan Lane after Nathan Detroit of Guys and Dolls. Lane moved to New York where after some standup comedy with partner Patrick Stack, he got some off Broadway roles. Lane made his Broadway debut in the 1982 revival of Noel Coward's Present Laughter followed by the 1983 musical Merlin starring magician Doug Henning. He continued doing a mix of Broadway and off Broadway. Lane's big breakthrough came when he played Pseudolis in the 1996 revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He won a Tony for that. He then voiced Timon the meerkat in the 1994 Disney film The Lion King and the sequels. This was followed by Mike Nichols' adaptation of La Cage Aux Folles titled The Birdcage. He hosted Saturday Night Live and the Tony Awards broadcast and starred in the NBC sitcom Encore! Encore!. And then he starred as Max Bialystock in the 2001 Broadway musical The Producers. Of course The Producers was a 1967 Mel Brooks comedy about Broadway producers defrauding investors. David Geffen convinced Brooks to turn it into a Broadway musical. When Brooks met with lyricist Jerry Herman (Mame), Herman suggested Brooks write the songs himself. Nathan Lane starred with Matthew Broderick. The show ran from 2001 to 2007. And it won a bunch of Tonys including one for Lane. It was also turned into a 2005 film also starring Lane and Broderick. The featured song The King of Broadway was not in the film. It was shot but edited from the film. The film did not do well but Brooks only made the film to have a permanent record of the show. The original Broadway cast is available as a budget CD. Since then, Lane has worked regularly on stage, in films and on TV. Most recently, he has recurring roles on the Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building and the HBO series The Gilded Age. He does plenty of voice work. Here's Nathan Lane performing The King of Broadway. As I said, this was shot for the film but deleted.